PARLIAMENT has received a 51,000-strong petition urging a rethink over the decision to shut Crosby Coastguard station.

It also backed a union proposal to base the planned national marine operations centre at the Merseyside site, saving the taxpayer over £10 million.

The petition, delivered by Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson, declares that the closure “would result in the loss of vital local knowledge and a reduction in the efficiency of rescues of people in difficulty along our coastline.”

The petition requests that the Commons “urges the government to take steps to ensure that the station remains open.”

Mr Esterson told other MPs: “The staff and residents around the coastguard station are trying to keep it open.

“The petitioners would like the maritime operation centre to be hosted at Crosby as a means of keeping it open, which would save the government a significant amount of money.”

Later he told the ECHO: “The cost of the operations centre if it were in the Crosby buildings would be £1 million.

“The government says it wants the centre to be built from scratch at a cost of £11.5m in Southampton.

“This is a chance for ministers to save money and keep Crosby open.”

In July then-Transport Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed plans to halve the 19 coastguard stations around the British coast, including the scrapping of Crosby.

But he retained the Belfast station and reprieved another at Holyhead previously facing closure.